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Wednesday,
June 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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CM charged with victimising BJP men Shimla unit of HVC merges with NCP Decline in vote share worries BJP Potable water scheme in ‘pipeline’ CM moots joint power board |
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IT instructors seek better deal Embankment work
on Bata river HP withdraws charge sheet against Thind 'Woman killed after rape' 10 injured in accident
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CM charged with victimising BJP men Solan, June 17 He expressed concern over the manner in which the senior officials as well as their partymen were being pressured to issue statements which could trap their senior leaders. While the BJP was not opposed to exposing the corrupt but it was regretable that the Chief Minister was adopting pressure tactics to show BJP leaders in poor light, he said. Accusing the small time Congress workers of acting a middlemen to facilitate employee transfers he said they were not only making money through such deals but were unduly harassing employees who owed allegiance to the BJP. Demanding an inquiry into the matter the BJP state president said that the Chief Minister should put an end to this system or else the BJP would launch an agitation against it. Lamenting that development had come to a halt he said the Congress government was focusing its attention solely on trapping BJP leaders. In Punjab it was Congress Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh who had unleashed a reign of revenge, transfers against Mr Badal and in
Himachal the Chief Minister was doing the same against BJP leaders and partymen. Expressing concern over the manner in which the BJP men were forced to leave their party and coerced to join the Congress he said large scale changes in leaders of block development committees, Zila Parishads as well as panchayati raj institutes across the state was a pointer towards the pressure tactics being adopted by the Congress to capture power at all levels. |
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Shimla unit of HVC merges with NCP Shimla, June 17 The exodus has begun with the Shimla district unit of the party led by its president, Mr Satinder Thakur, along with other senior leaders formally joining the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here last evening at a function organised to mark the conclusion of the foundation week celebrations of the NCP. More HVC leaders and workers are likely to join the party over the next few days. Gen R.S. Dayal (retd), president of the state unit of the NCP, said the party high command had given a free hand to the state leadership in organisational matters but the party would be selective in inducting leaders from other parties. The party did not need those who aspired for “power of governance” but only dedicated leaders, who were willing to work for fulfilling the basic needs of the people, would be accepted into the party fold. Besides the electoral debacle, the HVC cadres have also been disillusioned with the attitude of the party supremo, Mr Sukh Ram, who left the candidates in the lurch during the elections to the three tribal segments. Mr M.N. Shukla, legal adviser of the HVC, who also joined the NCP, said it seemed Mr Sukh Ram was no longer interested in running the party and it faced a bleak future. He said the entire Shimla district unit had merged into the NCP and some other district and block units of the HVC would follow suit in due course. The main reason for joining the NCP was to raise a third political front in the state to end the hegemony of the BJP and the Congress. He said the HVC had shown that the people of the state supported a good political alternative, but its top leadership was not able to sustain it because of self-interest. He said with HVC cadres, too, willing to join the NCP, the membership drive of the party would get a big boost. |
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Decline in vote share worries BJP Shimla, June 17 The party polled the lowest-ever percentage in the past two decades in the recent election to the three assembly segments. In fact, its performance was worse than the 1993 assembly poll when it could manage to win only eight seats. The downslide was all the more surprising as the party was expected to do much better on the basis of development works carried out by its government in the tribal belt. It lost the three seats with huge margins and in Lahaul-Spiti, its candidate forfeited his security deposit. The party’s vote share came down in Kinnaur from 47.75 per cent in 1993 to 33.21 per cent in 2003. Similarly, in Bharmaur it declined from 37.26 per cent in 1993 to 34.29 this year. In Lahaul-Spiti, it polled only 11.66 per cent votes as against 43.16 per cent in 1993. The debacle is likely to be discussed during the meeting of the state executive of the party to be held here on June 22. The results were a clear indication that the downslide in the popularity of the party has been continuing. With liberal assistance from the Vajpayee Government, the party did provide a boost to development activities, in the state, particularly in the tribal belt. However, the corruption-friendly image of its government did it in at the hustings. This is perhaps the main reason for the all-time low percentage polled by the party. So strong was the anti-incumbency sentiment against the party and its leadership that even Tulku Lama, the head of the key monastery in Spiti, failed to persuade the Buddhists, who comprise a majority of voters in Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti, to vote for it. The party high command’s decision to sack Mr Shanta Kumar from the Union Cabinet apparently holding him responsible for the February debacle, has also not gone down well with the electorate. The defeat has left the cadres totally demoralised and it is facing a serious crisis of leadership. The leadership propped by the high command has been outrightly rejected by the people. The cadres feel that tainted leaders could not revive the party and sooner or later the party will have to bring honest and dedicated leaders who were, unfortunately, sidelined during the past five years, to the centre stage. Otherwise there is little hope for it. |
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BJP meeting on June 22 Shimla, June 17 Mr O.P. Kohli, National Secretary and in charge of party affairs in Himachal, Mr P.K. Dhumal, a former Chief Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, a former Union Minister and MPs and MLAs will also attend the meeting to be held under the chairmanship of Mr Jaikrishan Sharma, the state party chief, The political situation and organisational matters will also be discussed. |
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Potable water scheme in ‘pipeline’ Dharamsala, June 17 Accepting the problem of the water shortage in various districts, the minister who was accompanied by Revenue Minister B.B.L. Butail said 101 new handpumps had been installed in Kangra since March to augment the water supply. He said the Revenue Department had provided Rs 4 crore for providing water through tankers while the Irrigation and Public Health Department had released Rs 2 crore for purchasing new handpumps. He said at present 12,250 handpumps were functional in the state. The minister declared that a legislation would soon be introduced to make it obligatory for those constructing new houses to provide for rain water harvesting and its use for toilet and other purposes. |
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CM moots joint power board Mandi (Barot), June 17 Talking to reporters at the end of his week-long stay at a hill resort, Barot, on the banks of the Uhl, he said it was important to exploit the hydel power potential of the hill states through a joint venture to solve the current power crisis in the region. Hydel power cost less and it was in the larger interest of the three states to come to an understanding at the earliest. He said there was no controversy over the transfer of Shanan power house to Himachal. At the time of reorganisation of sates in 1966, Shanan had been give to Punjab under the Reorganisation Act and it was with the Punjab Government under a 99-year lease signed with the ruler of Mandi State from the time of British rule. He said the Punjab Government was willing to hand over the surplus land at Barot to the Himachal Pradesh Government, if it so desired, for the promotion of tourism there. |
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IT instructors seek better deal Chamba, June 17 Mr Rakesh Chauhan, president and Mr Dhanpat, General Secretary of the district unit of the association, alleged on the second day of their strike today that they were being intimidated by their organisers. Criticising the dictatorial attitude of their employer companies, both leaders requested the state government to intervene and settle their long pending demands. There main demands included the payment of salaries for the past several months to instructors and revision of their pay scales so that the standard of IT education could be improved. |
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Embankment work
on Bata river Nahan, June 17 Reviewing the progress of houses constructed for the weaker sections of society under the Indira Awas Yojna, he directed block development officers to personally visit the sites and ensure speedier construction of the houses. He was told that 1182 houses had been constructed so far in the district. About the schemes run by SC/ST Corporation, he asked the bank officials to have a positive approach while sanctioning loans for the weaker sections. He asked officers of the Agriculture Department to ensure quality of seeds and their timely distribution to the farmers. |
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HP withdraws charge sheet against Thind Shimla, June 17 Mr Thind, who belongs to 1974 batch of IPS officers, remained absent from duties from May 1998 to March 2001, wilfully and the Home Department for imposing maximum penalty issued charge sheet on January, 18, 2002. Mr Thind challenged this order before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and inquiry on the basis of charge sheet was stayed by the CAT on July 9, 2002. The previous BJP government preferred to file a writ petition before the High Court against the stay order passed by the CAT. It was alleged in the petition that during the period of absence Mr Thind visited Dubai without the prior approval of the state government, which was serious misconduct. |
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'Woman killed after rape' Solan, June 17 The Kandhaghat police which received the information around 4 pm set up nakas to nab the two. According to the villagers who had gathered near the house after hearing the cries of the woman the two youths were drunk and they escaped. The husband of the deceased works with HPSEB Kandhaghat and her mother in law who is deaf was at home at the time of her murder. |
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10 injured in accident Palampur, June 17 According to reports reaching here the bus was on its way from Manali to Pathankot. The injured have been admitted to the Civil Hospital Baijnath, and Jogindernagar. An eyewitness said the accident occurred when the driver lost control while giving way to a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. The police has registered a case against the driver of the bus. |
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